Nice wheels David, I think you'll be happy with them. The Velocity A23 rims are similar to the HED Belgium C2 rims in the Kermesse wheelset on my CA 2.0, at least to the extent that both have an exterior width of 23 mm intended to give better aerodynamics and handling with 23 mm wide tyres. I'm using Continental GP4000S's too. The combination certainly feels good to me.

Returning to the seat recline discussion, a couple of days ago I raised the back of the seat of my CA 2.0 by one 'hole' to try a more upright and closed position. Early days yet but based on my Strava segment times it's looking promising.

Indeed, your comments on the HED wheels and the several comparisons of them and the A23s that I read on the Interwebbie were significant factors in my decision. Seemed to me that to get much better would require spending almost twice as much. I think I will be happy with them - at least for a while until the urge to upgrade strikes once again . They certainly do feel fast and more responsive than the standard set up.

I also read the article John Lewis posted with interest. It may help to explain something I've noticed when riding the Corsa. On the bentech, when pushing hard, it was my muscles that complained first, usually via that burning sensation in my quads and sometimes calf muscles. On the Corsa, it is my lungs that complain. Feels like I can push and push and my legs will keep spinning until I am literally gasping for air. The bentech seat is much more vertical, but the crank is also much lower, so the position is quite open. It is probably closer to the setup illustrated in the article. The Corsa climbs much better - as you would expect, as it's 5kg lighter and stiffer with better wheels , but some of it may indeed be due to a more effective riding position.

Ouch!!! Looks painful. Hope you heal quickly and that the bike survived without damage. Was it a near-collision with a pedestrian? had something similar a few weeks ago. Came around a corner on a shared path (coming onto Rhodes bridge southbound for those in Sydney) and found two pedestrians walking towards me side by side and occupying the whole path. Both had headphones on and were looking down with their minds clearly miles away. Rang my bell and called out but to no avail. Had to head off onto the grass to avoid them. Fortunately I was taking it easy so I was able to slow sufficiently to stay upright.

LH Brake Lever is cactus - the adjuster has been scraped off, and rear brake now has no tension. Don't even think the bike has a scratch - think I protected it nicely.

Naah not a pedestrian, a roadie - head down, earphones in. I could see that the gent could not see me - shouted out. Path is next to oncoing traffic (under Powis Street in Glendalough for those in the know) - so I had no where to go, I was just worried about ending up under an oncoming car (they tend to do 70+ through there). So I veered as far left as I could, but was not enough, and we both went down.

I was sprawled out and checked myself, was still in a bit of shock. Got up and checked the other guy, meanwhile a couple of other roadies stopped and helped (big Thanks to Ron who works (AT) Telstra). Vaughn the gent on the roadie, was not in a good way, so Ron called an ambulance and his Vaughn's wife, and we moved the bikes and us off the path. Ambulance arrived, and we took Vaughns bike to my work - his wife picked it up in the afternoon, and told me that he had been discharged with broken ribs.

One good thing about recumbents is the lack of "Over The Bars". I was doing probably 28-30kph before I braked, and I guess Vaugh was doing 20-25kph. So all in all could have been much much worse. Only my sunglasses ended up in the middle of the lane of oncoming traffic.

I had noticed my arm was sore, but did not think too much off it until I took the arm warmers off. Iced it up. Took that photo after the swelling had gone down. Today my right leg (and my already bung shoulder) are pretty sore, and I think I will not be doing the Audax this Saturday Heading to my usual physio this arvo and hopefully he can sort me out, as I hate driving to work.

This is one instance where trikes are safer - so much less distance to fall. Just too bloody slow

Running Hutchinson tubeless Fusions - no punctures in 700kms - but then again I had not punctures in 4000kms on my last commuter on 25mm GP4000S, so not sold on cost or pain of changing the tubeless tyres.

Phil wrote:LH Brake Lever is cactus - the adjuster has been scraped off, and rear brake now has no tension. Don't even think the bike has a scratch - think I protected it nicely.

Ouch, hope both yourself and the bike are mended soon.

I'd give your handlebars a close look. In my (thankfully not too extensive) experience of crashing Bacchettas I've found that you're almost guaranteed to bend the handlebars in on the side that hits the deck. Thankfully they're an inexpensive aluminium part so it's not a disaster if you need to replace them.

Glad there wasn't too much damage to you or the bike. I came off my Bentech a few years back and ended up with a trip to casualty. Would have been worse had I been on a DF. Mostly what I had was road rash.

Cheers for the good wishes. Just got home from Physio (he is used to dealing with any offages - only time I see him), bit of a sprain on the right hip, hopefully will only be off the bike for a week or two.

Will have a good look at the bars, and the rest of the bike tonight. Only just brought it home, and I must confess I did not go over it too much.

The starting area was uphill on gravel. So I pushed it to the bitumen. Hence the gravel all over the shoes - was pretty slippery.

Massive sidegusts made it a not fun experience in parts coming down hills at 60kmh in the wet and getting blown several meters sideways. In hindsight I would have been better off putting on my commute wheels.

No doubting that recumbent grin and isn't it ironic you're leading the pack (not big enough for a peloton).

I couldn't help noticing a couple of things though. Your helmet seems like it could use some adjustment. In the laid back position its an opposite set up to a leaning forward bike and as such naturally wants to sit on the back of your head. This will cause a negative aero effect and worse with a head wind worse still if you have an off.

Another thing I can see from the photos is the amount of clearance you have between your shins and the bars. If you have the ability to lower the overall height of the bars you will get a little better handling making the bike feel more stable and giving greater confidence through the twisty bits at speed.

I was able to drop mine 50mm. After adjustments were done I can just touch the bar with my shins if I point my feet forward.

Another pointer I got from the Bacchetta Boys was to get your shoulders, hands and crank roughly in a straight line. John Schlitter also told me once when he powers up hills in a race he is barely on the seat using his body like a pendulum effect to put his body weight plus the leg power going through the pedals. I've tried this many times and as it works it takes a lot of training. Its the equivalent to standing on the pedals, more power but more effort.

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